Slam Poetry: An Art Form For All College Students

“The idea was to give poetry back to ordinary people,” Bill Moran, a member of the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Austin Poetry Slam national teams, said when describing slam poetry.

Slam poetry is a type of spoken word created in the 1980s which is becoming popular with college students for its unconventional characteristics and openness to all people. With this art form, any person can take the stage to read something they’ve written and expect warm acceptance from their audience. It’s a type of poetry and performance art which hasn’t been around very long but often draws the attention of college students across the nation and has begun fostering a culture around the world.

Every Sunday night at Revolution Cafe and Bar in downtown Bryan, Texas, students from Texas A&M and local high schools gather to read poetry on stage and enjoy the work of others. Bill Moran is president of a non-profit organization called Mic Check, which is dedicated to spoken word performance and hosts Open Mic night at Revolution and a poetry slam on the second Sunday of every month.

There’s no cover charge, no age requirement, and the atmosphere is always warm, inviting, and accepting. The only downside to attending one of these events is that if you don’t show up early enough you won’t be able to find a seat because all of them are taken.

A Chicago construction worker by the name of Marc Smith first introduced the idea of slam poetry as a bar game. For a poetry slam, anyone and everyone who chooses to participate takes turns reading their poetry on stage. After each poem, random members of the audience assign points, in the end deciding who won for the night.

This competitive art form quickly caught on with bars and other venues hosting poetry slams. The first National Poetry Slam was held in San Francisco in 1990 and continues taking place every year.

Slam poetry legend Marc Smith
Photo Credit: Flickr.com / Elizabeth McQuern

Contrary to how some people imagine a poetry reading, the atmosphere at Revolution can occasionally become loud and even rowdy. The one rule in the bar is not to talk while a poet is performing, but this rule can be broken as long as the outspoken audience member is proclaiming approval of the poet’s words. For the audience to talk among themselves is disrespectful and may be met with a loud “SHHH” from another audience member. But if a poet says something you like to hear then it can be acceptable to yell something short and simple like “YEAH” or “SAY IT.”

Snapping in applause is a more common form of approval during and after a performance, but clapping is also acceptable. Slam poetry has rules and respect that go along with it, but part of what makes it so interesting and appealing to college students specifically is that it also encourages us to break the rules.

A poet may read something with enthusiasm and body language that could only be appreciated in person and might even move people who can’t hear the words. Some poets will read without moving any part of their body other than the mouth. Some poets take on the role of different characters as they read, or switch back and forth between their own voice and someone else’s.

A poet can curse, talk about sex and drugs, and sometimes they get on topics as deep and emotional as rape and suicide. Politics and social taboos also make their way on stage regularly as people are free to recite poetry about feminism, racism, and any other area of controversy.

Topics can be whatever the reader wants them to be, and when poetry is read with genuine wholeheartedness a performer can expect thunderous applause. This draws students who may never have thought of reciting poetry on stage, such as Madison Parker, a fourth year English major at Texas A&M.

“I started by just YouTube-ing it,” Parker said. “I wouldn’t say I was like super interested.”

But then after discovering Mic Check and coming to Revolution on Sunday nights she eventually started performing her own work and has since become involved in Mic Check. First coming to an Open Mic night in the fall of 2012, she said “I didn’t get on stage until probably four months after coming to my first one.”

Now Parker reads her poetry on a regular basis and is set to take over as president of Mic Check in the summer of 2014.

Slam poetry is open to any and all college students who want to participate. Students in the College Station area should go to Open Mic night at Revolution on any Sunday, but college towns and big cities around the nation offer opportunities for anyone to get involved in slam poetry.

Bill Moran has traveled around the country to perform and has taught workshops at high schools and colleges including the University of Chicago and Brandeis University and he is about to take his spoken word to Australia in March.

“We believe that despite what others might directly or indirectly tell young adults, everyone has a voice and their voice is important,” Moran said.

Students who want to give slam poetry a try or just hear what other people are saying should find out where they can go to watch a poetry slam near them.

As Madison Parker said, “Everyone should experience a slam poetry event at least once in their life.”